More than two decades at the exec level in the hospitality industry, so I know what kind of stuff gets bought. For higher end restaurants, the ingredients are also top shelf; for many chain places, yeah, lower quality provides higher profits, but I know from experience that most of the meats are of equal or higher quality than you get at the typical supermarket, and definitely better than "big box" like Sam's and Costco - though some mom & pops will get their stuff from those places as well. Was good friends with the VP of supply chain at my last corporate gig - had to know everything they did to do my job right - and saw the vetting process for new items. It was a combination of taste, availability, consistency, and cost-to-quality. If you could spend just slightly more for a big jump in quality, we did it, but often the premium for the theoretically higher quality item (frequently, it was just a brand name versus generic made in the same plant) didn't really give you much bang for the extra bucks.